Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Reflections Power Palette

Now that all my old paper is gone it was time to order a new Power Palette.  Reflections was the last set I hadn't bought yet from Creative Memories (they have since added 2 new ones...but more about those later!).  While it didn't strike me as something I HAD to have I purchased it anyway because I only use Power Palettes and it was the only one I hadn't used.

However, once I recieved it and had it in my hands, I was very happy I got it.  The papers are just gorgeous and the colours are soft and kind of retro.  It's definitely got a cool feel to it and there are shimmery silver foil accents on the Designer-Print papers which are simply stunning!

Since I always pick up the whole set, I've got matching journal boxes, title stickers, paper ribbon, paper flowers, and tags with a glossy varnish too!

This new stash will definitely work to finish up the last pages of my 2011 family album!

Hidden Stars Quilt Video

Here is the video of my Hidden Stars quilt - the next in my Quilt Video series.

I love the way this project turned out and it's one of my favourites!  However, this quilt challenged me with all its 1/4 square triangles and diagonal quilting!  The inner squares are a little puffy and I wondered if I should tack them down with a decorative stitch, but I left them as is and it's a very comfy quilt!  The design is so pretty and I love the stars floating across the quilt!

Stuffed Cannelloni

You might think that trying to stuff cannelloni shells would be difficult but it's really not that bad!  The filling for this version was easy to make and delicious to eat.  I used oven-ready pasta but still boiled them for 10 minutes because I thought they'd be easier to handle and fill.  I used a small teaspoon to ladle the filling down the tubes and the process went fairly quickly.  Once baked, the cannelloni did not disappoint and we had a lovely dinner with a pretty impressive looking pasta dish!  You can find the recipe from the 1997 Milk Calendar HERE.

Chicken in a Pot

I had never cooked a WHOLE chicken in the crock pot and decided to try it one day when I had a chicken to roast and no time to deal with it later in the day.

The process is so simple, just plop the chicken in the crock and, similar to making homemade chicken broth, add vegetables (1 celery, 1 carrot, 1 onion) and broth to cover.  (I also added some white wine!)  This recipe added lots of lovely herbs & spices (salt, 6 whole black peppercorns, parsley (1 Tbsp dried), thyme (1/2 tsp dried), 2 whole cloves, and a bay leaf) and even though I only had dry versions of the herbs on hand, the aroma was fantastic!  I couldn't stop smelling the lid every time I passed the pot!

After 8-10 hours on low, the chicken is cooked and it's time to make the parsley sauce.  You remove the chicken to rest on a plate, and discard the vegetables.  In a seperate saucepan you make a paste of melted butter (1/4 cup) and flour (1/4 cup) and then add 2 cups of the reserved broth from the crock.  Fresh parsley would be so much nicer, but even with dried (2 Tbsp) the sauce was a nice compliment to the chicken.  I made some fresh biscuits for dipping and mopping!

The chicken is tender and flavourful (I really thought it was going to be a bit bland) and it was a wonderful, easy way to make a chicken dinner on a weeknight.  I'll definitely be using this recipe again and there are a ton more in the book (America's Best Slow Cooker Recipes, by Donna-Marie Pye) that I want to try.

Workshop Scrapbook Layout

I continued on with my templates and leftover papers to get some more scrapbooking completed in my 'regular' family album.

I had some more photos of my workshop construction and finished room that I wanted to make sure I included on my pages and the templates gave me the easy inspiration to get the job done.

I used up the last of the Simply Beautiful Power Palette (to match the previous pages I'd done about the workshop, HERE) and added some perfect quote title stickers on each page.

By adding a small, matted photo on top of one of the larger ones, I was able to show the interior of the drawers and give a complete tour of the workshop.

 

Raspberry Cream Muffins Video

Last month I shared the saga of the Raspberry Cream Muffins video and gave you the recipe using blueberries as a substitute.  Today I present the video for these yummy muffins...with raspberries!  Either way, these are very tender and delicious muffins I'm sure you will enjoy.  Here's the recipe in case you missed it...and the saved-this-time video below!

Raspberry Cream Muffins

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup coarsely chopped raspberries (or whole blueberries)

350 degrees F, greased 12 cup muffin pan, 30-35 mins.

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, then beat in sour cream & vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir just to combine. fold in berries and fill muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 30-35 mins. Let stand in pan 10 mins. then remove and cool on rack.

March BOM Blocks

The March Craftsy Blocks-of-the-Month taught us two ways to do foundation piecing and both were a lot of fun!

The first block is the String Block and you sew strips of fabric right onto a base square of muslin.  The foundation fabric acts as a guide and when you are done and you simply trim off all the over-hang of the strips of fabric to end up with a perfect square 1/4 block.  Join 4 of these together to get this amazing, scrappy design.  Of course, the seams are a bit bulkier with this method since you are adding the foundation fabric into the mix.

The second block is the Broken Spider Web and this time you use a base square of fabric cut into fourths (to make 4 triangles) as the foundation.  While sewing the strips onto the muslin is similar to the String Block, with this technique the base fabric is pulled back before stitching.  In this way it is simply a guide for sewing and does not become part of the block (only the first strip is attached to the base making the centre star).  After sewing and trimming the over-hang, the excess flap of foundation fabric is trimmed off at the 1/4" seam and the resulting block is much less bulky than the String Block.

I discovered (after the first triangle) that sewing just inside the guide line resulted in better star points and to save time, I also realized that I could stitch strips on either side of the triangle both at the same time while at the sewing machine.  Otherwise, it's sew a strip, press, trim...sew a strip, press, trim.  I did two sides at a time (sew 2 strips, press, trim) and that made the process go a whole lot faster!

This block turned out a 1/4" larger than I anticipated so I'm starting to wonder if getting my blocks all together in a quilt at the end of this project will actually happen!  It will be a miracle!  Some of my blocks are too small...some are too large.  Not by much either way and I don't have enough experience to know if this will be a big problem at the end.  We don't know yet how Amy Gibson will suggest assembling the finished quilt and whether sashing will be involved or what.  I'll have to wait another 9 months to find out.  Amy will have to wait a little less than that to find out what her baby looks like!...yep, she's expecting her 3rd child so I predict she will be a little bit busy at that time to critique my quilt!

Amy's blog is fantastic and she has the most beautiful photography, children, and quilts.  Check it out if you'd like some quilty inspiration! http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com/  She won't reveal any hints about April's blocks but at least I don't have to wait too long to find out!

Economy 16-Patch Quilt Quilted

I quilted the Economy 16-Patch quilt using an all-over meander design.  I really thought it would be the perfect design for this simple quilt and I wanted to practice my free-motion quilting.  The quilting went along fairly quickly and I would guess I was done in about 3-4 hours.  My quilting is a lot more consistent now and I am very happy with the results.  Once I washed the quilt the pebbly design puckered up so evenly and looks (and feels) really good!

I took a poll regarding the binding on my quilt forum.  While the pattern suggests a green floral binding, the idea of a scrappy binding, using all the leftover fabric from the coloured squares, seemed like a possibility.  Since the quilt ladies agreed, I pieced together miles of scraps (a pain) to make the multi-coloured binding...and then didn't like it!  I just thought it distracted from the colours of the quilt and competed for your eyes' attention from the centre of the quilt.  So back to the fabric store and I bought some of the blue fabric I used in the blocks.  The blue just seemed to work so well with the bright yellow and I love how it turned out.  The binding was probably my tidiest yet (just like the piecing in the quilt top) so all together it turned out to be a very neat quilt!  I love it!

My Horizon was wonderful for the all-over quilting as well.  I never had to scrunch up the quilt at all under the throat space and she fmq like a dream.  I've had no problems at all and it just makes me want to do more and more!

Baker's Dozen Quilt Video

I finished the Baker's Dozen quilt back in November 2011 and it is still one of my favourites!  This one is actually on my bed so I look at it every day.

Continuing my quilt video series, here is the video for the Baker's Dozen Quilt.  You can get more information about the details involved in the making of the quilt, HERE.

Raspberry Meringue Pie

Wow, this was an interesting pie with mile-high meringue!  We love raspberries so a Raspberry Meringue Pie sounded like a tasty change and since the recipe used prepared raspberry pie filling, it was easy to make.  I made my own baked pie crust but you could use frozen pastry if time is an issue.  The custard layer is very simple to make and the leftover egg whites are used to whip up the meringue topping.  In between is the canned raspberry pie filling (I'm sure it would be an even better pie with a filling from scratch but you can't beat the convenience of the ready-made stuff) and after a few minutes in the oven to brown the peaks of the meringue, you have an impressive dessert.  We all really enjoyed it!  You can get the written recipe from the 1997 Milk Calendar, HERE.